THE NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said today the alliance was opposed to arming the Libyan rebels fighting against Muammar Gaddafi.

Rasmussen said the alliance, which formally took command of the operation in Libya today, was in the country to protect Libyans, not arm them.

“As far as NATO is concerned, and I speak on behalf of NATO, we will focus on the enforcement of the arms embargo, and the clear purpose of an arms embargo is to stop the flow of weapons into the country,” he said.

Both Washington and London so far refused to rule out arming the rebels, who were beaten back in the past 24 hours after failing to cement an advance on Ghadafi’s hometown of Sirte.